School leaders review security

In the aftermath of the tragic school shooting in Newtown, Conn., area school officials are reviewing security policies, forced to consider the unthinkable.

By MARK SPENCLEYmark@cheboygantribune.com

In the aftermath of the tragic school shooting in Newtown, Conn., area school officials are reviewing security policies, forced to consider the unthinkable.“I’ve visited all of our buildings and we’ve been going over our policies and procedures,” said Mark Dombroski, Cheboygan Area Schools’ superintendent. “We’re going to be doing reviews and we’ve been in contact with the sheriff’s department.”Safety and security policies are in place at every district. “I think parents understand now, why we have them walk so far to get to unlocked doors,” Dombroski added. “We get complaints about it, but there is only one set of unlocked doors at each of our buildings.”Officials at Inland Lakes Schools also have been looking over procedures in the event a dangerous intruder enters one of the district’s buildings.“We have security protocol in place and we do lock down drills,” said ILS Superintendent Fred Osborn. “We have a comprehensive crisis plan and we work with first responders on an annual basis. We’ve been looking closely at all of this. Something like what took place in Connecticut is so difficult to comprehend.”“How do you stop that?” Osborn asked. “That’s what we’re looking at.”For this week and possibly on into the future, the Tuscarora Township Police Department will have a presence at ILS school buildings each morning, offering parents and students as sense of comfort. “We’re looking at everything, ways we can improve the systems we already have in place,” said Rod Fullerton, Onaway Area Community Schools’ superintendent. “I told one parent today, we’re doing things a lot differently than we were 10 years ago, and it two years will be doing thing differently than we are today. Its one of those things you never let sit idle. You’re always trying to improve it.”In the case of every school shooting, the students’ greatest protectors and allies are those who dedicate their lives to educating them.“What it comes down to are the heroes in every school building across the country,” said Osborn. “How that staff responded is how I think every staff would respond, to protect the kids. Teachers really do put kids first, tragically with their lives sometimes. People go into this profession because they care deeply about kids.”